Quote
merlin
But the truth is the slot is where you put your slow cover guy who has good physicality.
Now, agree that Ramsey is on decline, but not to the degree you are saying. Also, a slot can have some physicality. Or not.
Toughness is what matters, being able to stop two-way releases.
Humphrey (not slow) for Baltimore makes $20 mil as is their top CB and he's their slot. Chris Harris (not slow) was the slot on those great Denver defenses.
When Stephon Gilmore (not slow) won defense player of the year he was in slot maybe 15% of the time, that is where Belichick thought to use
him.
In 1999 Todd Lyght (not slow) was the slot. Bly would come in and play outside. Same with Aeneas Williams (not slow). He was the slot CB, played outside
in base, inside in nickel. Same as Ramsey (not slow). Even though he was not as good as the previous guys Courtland Fenigan was outside in base, slot in nickel. It's how it's often done. Ron Bartell (not slow) - same thing.
Ronde Barber, Charles Woodson, both their teams' top CBs and they were slot guys in nickel, outside in base.
Also, could list a lot of guys who play slot who are not the physical type CB, they are smaller guys. It's an attitude. But yeah, some are physical. In my opinion there are lots of flavors of slot cornerbacks . . . some are as you describe, some are not.
Tyrann Mathieu was a small guy--safety in base but slot in nickel. And I know there are some that are slower, too. Depends on what a coach has to choose from on a roster.
But it's not a place to hide a weak player, it's too important. Outside is where you'd hide a guy because you can train him to force and outside release. Outside CBs use the sideline to "double team" a WR
Why top CBs play the slot is that that is where the explosives happen.
NFL tracking data show that the explosives do not happen outside near as often as inside. This isn't the 1970s where you have
guys streak down the sideline and QB throws over a CB who is in trail position...it is a league where teams throw chunk passes
in the middle on over routes and combinations that can break coverage.
So, at the risk of having this thread poisoned by obsession, there is a good debate on how much slot a guy should play. Not "if" but "how much".
When Rams play a team with a big WR--Metcalf, Hopkins Ramsey takes that guy, he's outside those guys. But if it's not a stud like those guys
the outside guys can handle it.
In fact Durant was a lot when he was healthy this year. He'd be inside some with Ramsey outside.
Anyway, Ramsey is with Fangio, he will remain at slot in nickel a lot, maybe less maybe the same maybe more than he did from 2020-2022, we have to wait and see but he's not going to be an exclusive outside the hash CB there. Fangio knows better. It is what he does best. He has been better at zone his whole career anyway and it's getting more pronounced . . . where he agree is he is not a shutdown CB anymore. He's an out-of-phase, top-down CB who excels inside, not outside.
